I can wait. I can definitely wait.
Good things come and all.
We return to The Extravagant, and as we wander through the hotel on the way to the elevators, I figure tonight’s not the night, and that’s okay.
“Hey!” Nolan points to a late-night eatery off the casino. “I didn’t realize they had a cereal bar here.”
I’m Pavlov’s dog. Instantly, my mouth waters. “Cinnamon Life Cereal, take me to your leader.”
Nolan pats my belly. “Your appetite for cereal knows no bounds.”
“That is true. It is boundless.”
With an arm wrapped around my shoulder, he guides me into the quirky breakfast-anytime café.
We grab stools at the bar and place our order with the server. “One bowl of Froot Loops for me.”
“One Cinnamon Life Cereal for me,” I add.
A minute later, the server returns with a bowl for him and a box for me. “I don’t need a whole box, but thank you,” I say.
The server shrugs and smiles. “Here you go anyway.”
Then he walks away.
I arch a brow at Nolan, who’s pouring a cup of milk onto his multi-colored cereal. “Am I supposed to open the box?”
“That’s how one gets to the cereal inside,” he says like he has a secret. “And the prize.”
“Oh, there’s a prize?” I ask, refusing to get ahead of myself.
I swear I try. But it’s hard.
“Yes, there is,” Nolan says.
I rip the box open and gasp so loud I bet they can hear me at New York, New York.
There’s a blue velvet box perched on top of the cereal.
I grab it, hold it tight. Try not to burst into a million diamonds of excitement.
“Like I said.” In that commanding way he sometimes has with me, Nolan takes the box, rises from the barstool, and gets down on one knee.
I have no chill.
“Oh my God,” I whisper. It turns into a whisper-chant. “Oh my God, oh my God.”
“Emerson Alva, you’re the one. The one I want to wake up with, sleep with, work with, eat with, play with. You’re the person I want to spend my days and nights with. And you’re the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. Will you marry me?”
I jump off the stool, tears streaking down my face, and join him on the floor, throwing my arms around his neck.
“I will.”
He slides the ring on my finger. “Good. Now shut up and kiss me,” he says.
And I do—because that sounds like an excellent plan to me.